


Things that I would have changed about Season 8

by mneiai



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Commentary, Post season finale, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 18:31:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18900244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mneiai/pseuds/mneiai
Summary: All the things I can think of without having to go back and watch any episodes. Includes some book references.





	Things that I would have changed about Season 8

These will be vaguely in episode order, but some related stuff will just come together:

\--Sansa would have been nothing but polite and sweet to Dany in front of her, we should have been given a few scenes where she expresses scorn for Dany in private, but in public she should have been playing the game. Arya could have been the hostile one and Jon could have excused it by her being over protective.

\--They wouldn't have cut away from the scene where Jon reveals his parentage to Dany. It would cost next to nothing to make it longer and it was clearly done that way just to increase the fake tension over the succession. Dany could have still reacted badly (making it all about her), but Jon could have also reacted with anger, and spoken about how his whole life was a lie, etc. They could have also used the opportunity for him to be squicked by fucking his aunt and for Dany to explain that Targs often do things like that because in order to control dragons they need to make sure their bloodline stays strong, that sort of thing, so that the casual viewers would understand why they could be together. Jon could then say something about need more time.

\--The dragon riding could have OBVIOUSLY taken place after the reveal and it should have been about half as long and not included the awkward makeout session. It could have been about Dany trying to bond with her only living relative and getting him to accept his Targ heritage.

\--Dany would have also said that she knew she had no right to ask Jon to hide it, but that she wanted him to until after they'd taken the throne. Jon could insist on at least telling his family. Dany would be less suspicious of player!Sansa and not try to stop him.

\--They also, of course, wouldn't have cut away from Jon's parentage reveal with Arya and Sansa. This was a scene that many, many people had been waiting to see for ages--how Arya reacts to Jon being a Targ. How she'd comfort him. How she'd feel about Aunt Lyanna (who everyone compared her to) running off and marrying Rhaegar, etc.

\--Obviously they would have consulted any military historian ever about the Battle for Winterfell and its troop placement/weaponry/etc. I say any because even someone who's an expert in, like, Vietnam War era would probably still be able to pick out more issues than the writers/directors obviously did.

\--Screw that stupid complaint about budget because we all know it's untrue. When Jon went down with Rhaegal and the NK started raising people from the dead, Jon should have been saved by Ghost and Nymeria and her gigantic wolf pack.

\--Sam would have been in the Crypts with the others. They would have needed him to help with the wounded and shit, not on the front lines. They could have killed Edd off saving Tormund or something like that, as opposed to cycling back to 'lol look how useless Sam is!' as opposed to continuing the point of his character being that not everyone has to be a fighter all the time.

\--Jon would have gotten past Viserion and to the godswood. He and Theon would have been fighting the white walkers, trying to protect Bran, but they can't get to the NK to stop them...then it's revealed that Bran's been sitting there using his powers, seemingly doing nothing, because he was concealing Arya from the NK and she jumps out and kills him. Same result, less random seeming. Theon could die from his wounds surrounded by family.

\--The raising the dead in the crypts did basically nothing for the storyline. Presumably if it happens in the books there will be something more to it (the crypts are a mystery in the books) that they couldn't pull off in the show. 

\--The succession crisis just would not have happened at all. Dany is taking the throne by conquest, the new Targ dynasty will start with her. In the books if fAegon and Dany are both trying to get to the throne for themselves, then it makes sense. But Jon clearly has no interest in the throne and the succession crisis didn't actually add anything except a tiny bit of shaky reasoning for why Dany has a mental breakdown. Sansa and Varys (and Tyrion) could have all been talking about what it would be like to have Jon on the throne, but Dany shouldn't have suspected Jon was something secretly plotting against her.

\--Jaime and Brienne would not have had sex. Him knighting her was incredibly emotionally fulfilling and instead he should have gone South with some promise to return to Brienne, instead (and thus when she's mourning him at the end it doesn't seem so stupid that she wants him to be remembered well by history)

\--We would have gotten hints of Bran and Sansa plotting. Maybe mostly just background things, like them talking alone a bunch and then stopping as soon as someone gets to close, that sort of thing. After one of those encounters, she should go tell Tyrion about Jon.

\--Rhaegal wouldn't have died. The entire surprise!fleet and being able to shoot a dragon like that was incredibly stupid. Jon would have rode him in battle over King's Landing and them getting shot down (and Dany not knowing Jon managed to survive) could have been one of the reasons Dany snapped. Hell, he and Dany could have had a conversation beforehand about why she wants the throne so much and talk about how the Lannisters sacked the city and murdered Jon's stepmother and siblings, and then the shot could emphasize that it's Lannister forces that may have killed Jon.

\--Since there was no surprise!fleet, they could just go straight to Dragonstone for plotting and planning.

\--Instead of Bronn teleporting to Winterfell after being sent to kill Tyrion and Jaime, which was incredibly stupid of anyone who knew of him, he would have shown up at Dragonstone. Tyrion could find him and believe he was there for him and Bronn could have allowed him to continue thinking that. He would let Bronn go without telling anyone and...Bronn would go kidnap Missandei, as Cersei wanted a piece to use against Dany. This would serve to make Dany mistrust Tyrion more when she finds out he knew that Bronn was there and didn't raise an alarm.

\--Varys could have still been plotting to kill Dany, deciding that Jon is much more easily manipulated and would be better for his goals. Someone would catch the little girl who was trying to poison Dany and it would lead back to him, thus his execution for attempted assassination. 

\--Cersei could have had scorpions and whatnot through the city, so along with Jon falling to one midway through the battle, Dany could have some issues where she basically HAS to use fire against more civilian-heavy areas. And Cersei could have planted wildfire in them (as she does) and so the real heavy fires are a combination of the attack and Cersei, not just Dany going "mad". 

\--She'd also take out Missandei in public, maybe even burn her alive, and make Dany watch. Just something awful and upsetting. So Dany would think she'd lost Missandei AND Jon and already be on the dragon and already see half of KL burning...and so her going and killing more of the Lannister forces might make sense.

\--Jon would have gotten Arya's bit of running through the city trying to save some smallfolk, failing, watching the death and destruction, etc. It could have ended with the one scene he did get, where he stopped that Northern soldier from raping that woman and then killed him. 

\--Arya should have killed Cersei. Like omg she literally made the Late Lord Frey eat his own sons, talking as if she hasn't gone off the deep-end for revenge before was ridiculous. And certainly it would have been more fulfilling than Cersei dying to some rubble that wouldn't have even hurt her if she'd been a few more feet over.

\--Orrrrr Jaime should have killed her. She could have made some selfish comments, shown her true colors, etc, and we could have known that Jaime came there to stop her, not to save her. And then Jaime could have flung himself out a window in some parallel to Tommen or something like that, if he absolutely had to die.

\--Instead of just murdering people left and right in the finale, somethings could happen to set it off. Like a mini-riot against the 'foreign invaders' by the small folk, some captured Lannister soldiers killing some Unsullied while trying to escape, that sort of thing. Just ratchet up the idea that they feel unsafe to even have prisoners around. Make Dany and those around her more and more paranoid. 

\--Then Tyrion, upset with Dany for the deaths of his siblings and what he's hearing about what's going on in the city, and remembering what Varys and Sansa had told him, could have been even more obviously manipulating Jon, so there's no question he was trying to drive a wedge between them.

\--Jon and Dany don't have had this touching scene where he pre-meditatively murders her. They could have had a fight in front of the throne, she would have, liked, slapped him, and he knocks her back, and...she gets impaled by the throne. There's a folktale in the books that the throne "rejects" bad rulers, this would be like the ultimate show of that. It would also have not turned Jon into basically Tyrion's assassin. And it would be even more tragic because he still thought he could get through to her, he was still hoping their was a way to salvage things, no matter what anyone said.

\--Lol at Drogon melting the throne. But, anyway, if the throne KILLED HIS MOTHER made he'd have more of a reason to hate it. But he should have burnt her body along with it, in sort of a call-back to Viserys' crown of gold, there's just ash and molten metal....And then Drogon fucks off to wherever the Cannibal and Sheepstealer have been hanging out.

\--Why the hell would a prisoner be deciding the fate of the throne? Fuck Tyrion having a part in it, it should be Sansa who 'conveniently' suggests the solution of having someone like Bran on the throne. With Sweetrobin and Edmure agreeing, like perhaps they'd been a part of it (Bran's literally their cousin and nephew).

\--Jon should have been exiled, not sent to take the Black like that's still a thing. Obviously if it was an accident and he was super broken up about it, Grey Worm would still be pissed, but he shouldn't be completely without mercy (he's not some mindless killing machine ffs). Jon would choose exile North of the Wall, with the free folk. And/or Sansa offers him exile within the Northern kingdom and he chooses to go North of the Wall instead.

\--Arya could have stayed with Sansa for awhile, and visited Jon a bit, before then deciding to head off on an adventure. Hell, she could have even referenced their ancestor who had done the same thing, sailing off into the Sunset Sea, to make it a bit more meaningful.

\--That whole scene with the Small Council was out of nowhere. Oh, yeah, here's all this super serious stuff...then we're just going to make stupid jokes! Plus, why did Brienne even join the KG? Firstly, she's the only heir of Tarth, so she's basically leaving her home without anyone to rule it, secondly, she was Sansa's sworn shield, not Bran's, and with Jaime dead there was nothing for her in the South (except Tarth). And why in the world would anyone want Bronn actually in charge of the Reach or on a small council? (And why would Bronn even want that much work??) And we're supposed to believe a writer would write a history of all the rebellions and shit and then...not even mention that it ends with Bran's kingship?


End file.
